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I'm completely new to collecting coins and I plan on starting collecting Roman coins as that's the period I find most interesting. I've bought three coins, one of Hadrian, one of Saint Helena and the other of Claudius II. I'm an undergraduate student so I don't have a lot of money to throw at the hobby unfortunately but I plan on buyingnew coins occasionally. Does anyone have any advice on books on Roman coins, from start to finish. I've looked around myself but I'm still not too sure so hopefully someone could help me out about it. Also, does anyone have any other recommendations as to where I can buy coins (other than this website).

Looking forward to learning more about the hobby and from hearing from you all, thanks

Sear has a series of books divided up by time periods, that's a good start if you know what era you want to focus on. For example the first volume is from the Republic to Nerva. The 2nd deals with the adopted Emperors. If you want to narrow it down further I would suggest getting a volume of RIC that deals with your area of interest. For me it's the volume on the Flavians.

Thank you both for the advice, will look through that area of the forum and those books by Sear (although they do seem very expensive ). Do either of you know how to upload pictures of my coins to a gallery as I've noticed that you both have a link on your profile to what I'm assuming is your coins.

Thanks for the advice. I think my plan is at the moment is to save up and buy the volumes of David Searbit by bit. I've looked at reviews and he is always highly rated, also the clear structure between volumes (being divided by Emperors) would be handy for a newbie like me. I live in the UK so I've looked on amazon and I can get them second hand at a reasonable price.

Also, has anyone got any advice as to storing the coins. I've bought a tray and some paper flips however I have heard mixed thoughts when it comes to the flips as some say its not good in the long run as it can potentially stain the coin. Personally, I don't want to seal them away as that takes out a part of the fun for me as I enjoy the idea of holding a piece of history in my hands.

I am also relatively new to the hobby (began a couple of years ago) and have a tight budget, and I found that 'Roman Coins and Their Values' (The one with the red cover) is very good when you don't know exactly what to specialise in; it gives a good overview of prices you can expect to pay (although the Carausius and Allectus values seem to be out! ) and a nice bit of history about the various emperors. It is also in GBP (good for us Brits) and lists the values of most of the more common types and quite a few rarities. While it is a little outdated, it is still great for IDs and values etc.. You can expect to pay £15 - 20 for one off eBay depending on the condition. When I realised which area I wanted to specialise, I bought one of the more widely used 'Roman Coins and their Values Volume 1/2/3/4/5 (I use vol. 3), as it gives my plenty more types that I can research/buy/admire.

For storing my coins, I use the little plastic flips in an album, and none of my coins are damaged because of it yet! However, which storage system you want to buy depends on what you want to do with the coins (i.e. I chose this system because it means I am less likely to damage my coins and I can move my collection easier), but it really depends on personal preference.

Just make sure that your flips are not polyvinyl chloride. PVC outgases chlorine, which combines with H2O in the air, forming HCl, hydrochloric acid. This affects bronzes the worst, particularly in wet climates. ironically, the acid free 'cardboard flips with the mylar windows' which are used for lower grade bronzes are fine. But, no, PVCflips won't immediately ruin nice bronzes, but for long term storage they are bad news.

If you are new, buy from Forum and sites hosted/linked by Forum or auctions hosted by Forum. You will see a fairprice regardless of your budget. Look at the listings and get a sense of what makes a coin a $10 coin, a $100 coin, and a $1000 coin, in areas you are interested in. You may branch out some day, but start here and you won't regret it. Plus, Forum has a great lifetime guarantee, which even a lot of other fine dealers do not offer.

The books named in posts above are all fine for reference, learning and context, except that any prices published for ancient coins are not useful as absolutes. The useful aspect is only what the printed price conveys as an expresion of orders of magnitude and as an expression of rarity, read in context of the author's benchmark for grading. So, if a coin in 2000 edition of SearRoman Coins and Values says "$10" in VF condition and another coin is "$300" in VF condition, the latter is scarcer than the former, and a "$3000" coin may be a sophisticated collector's rarity. But you are not going to see those actual prices for such a coin except by random accident. There are "$300" coins in Sear RCV that I have never seen offered for sale at any price. There is no equivalent real time price guide for ancients as there are for US coins. So don't assess ancient coin dealers in 2019 by the prices someone printed in hardcover in 2009.

You sure are in store for a great adventure! Collecting ancient coins is a wonderful hobby and an even better learning experience. My advice-Read and then read some more. I read for several months before buying my first ancient coin. You do not have to do that of course but do take advantage of this site and all it has to offer. There are plenty of experts here ready and willing to help.

I would also recommend that you buy from this site. Joe is great to deal with and the coins are guaranteed for eternity. I have made purchases here and have always been very pleased by what I received.

My advice-Read and then read some more. I read for several months before buying my first ancient coin.

The question is, does one read BEFORE or AFTER buying the coin? If the coin is relatively inexpensive and need not fit squarely into the parameters of a defined collection, one can do the reading after the coin is in hand. I do that quite often, and learn after-the-fact about what I now own. On the other hand, as the price of the coin increases, it behooves you to do your "homework" (I shouldn't use that word as the reading is much of the fun of collecting) before you buy the coin.

If a collector buys from a dealer with expertise, no experience, study or expertise is necessary. It is perfectly OK to just buy, collect, and enjoy ancient coins without dedicating a lot of time and effort to studying them. There is no reason for anyone to insist that others have the same dedication they have. It is a CHOICE.

Haha, I was asking this just due to wanting to see other coins available especially in the U.K. and with other coins of Emperor Hadrian. I have decided (for the time being) to focus on coins produced in the time of Emperor Hadrian as I live right next to Hadrianís wall so I have a strong historical connection to him. For anyone thatís interested I bought a new coin about one month ago that was minted in Rome under Hadrian with a picture of a galley on the front. I also bought Roman Coins and Their Values volume 2 to start off my collection of references I can use to find out more about my coins. Iím planning on getting something new coins soonish but Iím not in a rush. Just visited Rome for a few days last week and itís made me even more excited about the hobby and the historyside of it. Although Iím a newbie to collecting coins so my opinion may change with time but I have actually found the researching part much more fun than I imagined as itís a great feeling when I finally match up my coin to multiple references and then delving into the information available about it. As for storing the coins I bought both paper flips and a coin tray as they were both inexpensive so I thought I may as well try both and my opinion is that I prefer the tray due to the fact I can easily handle them, the main reason why I wanted to get into the hobby. After visiting Trajans column in Rome I definitely want to look into his coins now Iíve had something to spark my interest in his era.

Thanks for all the replyís as they have helped my become more informed and itís nice to know that there is a community behind this that I can chat too about this kind of stuff. Hope everyone is well.